You need stairs leading up to your exterior doors when you live in a mobile home. Whether you have a couple of steps leading up to your front porch or a larger staircase leading to your backyard deck, stairs are an essential part of your home architecture.
Homeowners have many different options for the materials they use when placing down these stairways. Wood, metal, and concrete are all common choices that each have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, one material option that you shouldn’t overlook is fiberglass. Today, Mobile Home Outfitters is here to explain the advantages of fiberglass stair treads and why they may be the perfect choice for your manufactured home.
1. Lightweight
One of the best benefits of fiberglass is that compared to lumber and concrete, it’s a very lightweight material. There may be a time or situation when you need to load up your stairs and move them somewhere else. Whether you’re bringing them home from a store or just moving them to see how they line up with the back door, fiberglass stairs are easy and safe to relocate. The stairs’ easy-to-transport construction makes them popular for those eager to handle their own home remodels and renovations.
2. Easy To Install
Once you have your fiberglass stairs, installing them is a quick and easy process that requires little construction. The first step is ensuring that the foundation area beneath where you plan to place your stairs is clear of any potential debris. Then line up your stairs with the door as close as possible. You want the distance between the top of your stairs and the threshold of your door to be less than seven inches. Make sure your steps are level when installing, or you may have structural and safety problems.
3. Visually Appealing
One of the distinct advantages of fiberglass stair treads is that they often have a distinctive, modern visual style that goes with any home decor. Fiberglass stairs offer a sleek white color scheme that blends nicely with your home’s paint job. Concrete and metal steps often look cold, impersonal, and industrial, but fiberglass steps have a softer charm that makes your home feel more inviting just by climbing the top stairs. Having an engaging aesthetic appeal on the front of your house greatly raises your curb appeal and makes your home seem like a nicer place to live.
4. Safe To Use
A noticeable benefit of fiberglass stairs over other external stair options is that they’re a very safe option when ascending and descending. Manufacturers make fiberglass stairs with a natural texture that helps shoes and bare feet grip the surface and prevents slipping. Many other common stair options can become slippery in the rain, while fiberglass is much more slip resistant to avoid unfortunate falls.
Many homeowners install a thin layer of fiberglass on the top of wood or concrete stairs to gain that same slip-resistant footing. While some homeowners may find this process visually unappealing, some available treads are bright yellow, which may help those with poorer eyesight safely navigate the steps and know where the edges are in darker hours of the day.
5. Weather Resistant
Since your stairs are outside your home, they face all manner of weather conditions. While homes in different regions may not experience certain concerns, like heavy snow and ice, nearly everyone experiences strong sun in the summer and some heavy rainfall. Lengthy exposure to sunlight can cause wooden steps to become unsightly and bleached, while metal stairs become hot to the touch.
Heavy rain can erode wood and concrete, and while many manufacturers use rust-proof stairs, there’s always a chance of corrosion over time. On the other hand, fiberglass rarely suffers from common weather concerns and even remains cooler to the touch in extreme sunlight during the summer.
6. Durable
Fiberglass is a unique inorganic material where manufacturers combine glass fibers with high-density resin to create a hard, stable, and durable material. Because of its distinct composition, fiberglass stairs hold up well over the years and don’t suffer some of the most common wear and tear from repeated foot traffic. Constant use may cause warping and bending on metal or wooden stairs from people going up and down them multiple times per day. While brick and concrete stairs don’t have this problem, they still may suffer from erosion and deterioration from weather conditions. Fiberglass stairs are durable, long-lasting, and maintain stability after decades of regular use.
7. Low Maintenance
Fiberglass stairs are easy to take care of compared to other stair options. You don’t need to apply regular staining or water-proofing like on wooden steps or worry about oxidation, corrosion, or rust with metal steps. Fiberglass stairs are water and chemical resistant, making them very easy to clean with a hose, pressure washer, or with many common household cleaners and sponges.
However, we advise using a cleaner or soap that does not contain phosphates. Phosphates may have a negative chemical reaction with the glass fibers and leave behind an unpleasant filmy residue. Most dish soaps work well on fiberglass steps, making them easy to clean and take care of. While the stairs are easy to clean, it’s a good idea to have some treatment options for metal since most fiberglass stairs do have metal guardrails that you should treat regularly.
8. Economical
While other options for stairs have advantages, a common disadvantage is that they’re costly in the long run. Initial investments, regular maintenance, and repairs over the years make the costs add up in a way many homeowners may not anticipate. However, fiberglass stairs are an economical and cost-effective option with few surprise additional costs.
For more information about fiberglass mobile home stairs, Mobile Home Outfitters is here for you. Our catalog has stairs in different heights and platform sizes that make finding the best option for your mobile home a breeze. If you have any specific questions, comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at any time to speak to a member of our team. Mobile Home Outfitters also has several helpful blog posts to give you the most beneficial and up-to-date information on mobile home renovations, repairs, remodels, and other exciting projects.
